Feeds Issue 4 | Volume 9

Director Dr. Mini Shaji Thomas

Dean (Students’ Welfare) Dr. N. Kumaresan

Faculty Advisors Dr. S. Mekala Dr. K. N. Sheeba

Cover Story: KGP, Shrikar, Nila, Shiwang, Sriram, Deeksha, Kratika, Rohit, Umar, Ashwin, Prathamesh, Sunil, Sandeep, Swami, Parasu, Venkat, Preetham Cover: Harish Raj Writers: Amritha, Ashwin, Deeksha, Gokul, Kratika, Naman, Pooja, Prathamesh, Rohit, Sandeep, Sriram, Sunil, Surya, Swami, Umar, Vaishnavi, Vignesh, Vishnu, Ajay, Amogh, Anisha, Arpit, Athreyan, Avinash, Daniel, Dhwani, Ipsita, Isha, Koushik, KGP, Manu, Nila, Renga, Rishab, Shiva, Shiwang, Shrikar, Sruthi, Swathi, Swedha, Vedanjali, Abhilasha, Adhithya S, Anirudh Ram, Ashwath, Nandini, Parasu, Preetham. Sashank, Siddharth, Sudhir, Venkat.

Illustrators: Gokul, Sneha, Vaishnavi, Vijay, Arpit, Isha, Nikhil P, Piyush, Renga, Sruthi, Swathi, Komal.

Designers: Abhishek, Naman, Pramoth, Rasika, Sandeep, Sneha, Ajay, Amogh, Arpit, Athreyan, Harish Raj, Nikhil P, Rishab, Shiva, Shiwang, Sindhur, Sivapriyaa, Sruthi, Swedha, Swathi, Vedanjali, Komal, Mukhesh, Preetham, Sashank.

Komal Telagavi Editor, Design “Education is more than schooling or acquiring knowledge; it teaches us how to think, to discover our ignorance and to enrich our lives .”

Human beings are all initially the same. What makes us each unique is how we were brought up and a very prominent part is influenced by how we were taught in education centers that we call schools. Even though their influence may seem subtle at the time, over a period of time it becomes one of dynamic proportions. This wheel of education helps us weave our knowledge through critical thinking rather than accumulation of information. Hence, the government and other bodies attempt to standardize the way of obtaining education so as to deliver maximum impact. However, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

From the old gurukulas to the present day e-learning, we have seen an evolution of the system with infinite changes.

We have done it all: complaining about our systems, the flexibility of curriculum and the rigidity of class timetables.

In an institute of national importance, education is beyond words important. Best practices have been implemented, yet there are a number of unknown hinges, handful of experiments and stones unturned.

In the cover story of this issue, we attempt to cover education in NIT-T for you, our reader, to get a wider perspective and a subtler sense of judgement on the system. We have also compared our facilities with those offered in NIT-Surathkal, another institute of national importance, to get a picture of where we could improve.

Editor

S. Akaash Preetham

Co-Editors

Parasuram Srivaths Pinjala Sai Sudhir

Editor, Online Presence Venkat Natarajan

Editor, Design Komal Telagavi

Founders

Karthik Selva and Deepak Valagam ( ICE 2012) Printed at Iyyan Color World, Chennai. © Feeds NITT 2019. All rights reserved.

We also have other articles for the casual reader. In these daunting times, and for the daunting times yet to arrive, we have an article on recessions. This issue also features the concept of intersectionality: a phenomenon very relevant in the modern day.

On the lighter side of things, we have a discussion on why some movie adaptations don’t do justice to their source material.

We have definitely enjoyed the making of this issue of Feeds. Here is an attempt to contribute to this great evolution of education. Open up your minds, sit back, read and may the Feeds be with you!

Review

With unconventional lyrics and tune, Velvet Underground’s third album, which is self titled, has one of the most underrated tracks of all. It is the song Murder Mystery. An extremely complex and conflicted song with overlapping parts and mysterious, incomprehensible and sometimes even nonsensical lyrics, Murder Mystery is a must listen. It has narratives of all four band members and the song runs to nearly 9 minutes.

song, on close analysis, we can unearth the unique aspects of the band - wild, edgy and a play with a melange of vocals and instruments.

Though this album might not be considered one of their best, it is a quintessential representation of their sound and style. With Murder Mystery making references to the death of pop, to fantastic lyrics that bring forth stunning visuals, it makes us connect colours, sounds It almost seems like the bandmates are giving alibis or and feels to one single element. Though the theme of their own views about how an incident occurred with the song is unclear, with some parts seeming to bear no clashing, incoherent viewpoints. It almost seems like connection to the title of the song, it is still regarded as this number is an audio poem or a story with tunes and a masterpiece due to its effect on listeners. While some instruments added to enhance the effect. With phrases parts are vague, seeming to be random words thrown like “silkscreen fantastic”, “denigrate obtuse and active about in haste, or a faint attempt at keeping up a difverbs pronouns” and “objections suffice apelike” and ficult-to-discern rhyme scheme, the song has baffled “tactile bassoon oboeing me cordon the virus’ section”, many a theorist at coming up with a solid explanation we can see the creativity and presentation of the lyri- to every single verse. cists, almost as if they decided to compete with the likes of Dr. Seuss and Roald Dahl while spouting what seems While we will keep on ruminating the words in our like nonsense in the first listen, but seemingly makes mind, Murder Mystery continues to enthrall and provide food for thought to all those whose senses it comes sense progressively. in contact with, giving an almost synesthetic feel to it.

The whole track creates an entire alternate reality using an extra extreme metallic style. However, while the Liked this review? Follow the song in the first listen doesn’t seem to be a typical Velvet QR to find more!

04

Shiva Kanth

Vaishnavi

Let’s Talk About

Preetham

Yuvan, Nandini Rakshit Ipsita, Surya

05

Feature

06

Harish Raj

Venkat,Vedanjali, Shrikar, Tania Swami, Athreyan, Surya

05 07

Psychology Feature

08

Harish Raj

Shiwang, Deeksha, Gokul

09

Feature

RECE$$ION Warning bells have been sounding all around the world. The Argentinian Peso crashed not too long ago, the trade war between the US and China continues to intensify, Iran and the western powers are locked in a tussle, growth and domestic output in India and China - two of the world’s largest economies, have significantly reduced and on top of it all, the yield curve of the US treasury bonds finally inverted earlier this year, one of the surest signs of an impending recession. So, do we have a reason to be concerned? Is it time to start stocking up on gas and canned food just yet? While a lot of evidence does suggest that the global economy is on the threshold of another recession, a closer look might shed light on some interesting facts.

The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) defines a recession as "a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real domestic product (GDP), real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales." In simpler words, a recession basically means that the economy slumps instead of rising. But recessions aren’t impromptu or a time-induced change. Rather, many overall factors contribute to recession, though the nature and causes of recession are simultaneously obvious and uncertain.

But the US-China trade war continues to stir the recession debate, especially with Trump announcing a 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods worth $300 billion.

China retaliated to this move by not buying agricultural goods from the US and allowing its currency to weaken.

Now, the market analysts strongly believe that they shouldn’t expect a trade deal before 2020 elections, thus slowing down the global growth.

Moreover, business investment is slowing down despite the reduction in interest rates by the Federal Reserve.

Business investment contracted for the first time in more than three years and housing declined for a sixth straight quarter. This could result in an economic crash, including multiplying household debt.

10

1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0

The yield curve establishes a relationship between short term and long term interest rates, generally on treasury notes. Normally, long-term interest rates are higher than short-term rates because it’s riskier for investors to lend money for longer periods of time. But when short-term rates are higher than long-term rates, the yield curve becomes “inverted”. Every US recession in the past 60 years has been preceded by an inverted yield curve. So, when the yield curve inverted mid-August, it raised alarms across the globe. Moreover, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 800 points on 14th August 2019, marking its worst day of 2019 and indicating the turmoil in markets.

Closer home, India is facing a liquidity crisis for the first time in 70 years, wherein the investment lenders have stopped funding businesses, resulting in a situation where they have to survive on cash. The economy has worsened after implementation of initiatives like GST, Demonetisation, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code that killed the informal economy, disrupted age-old economic systems, small industries and caused job losses. Moreover, flush with funds from demonetisation, banks were reluctant to lend to corporates and corporates were reluctant to borrow owing to regulatory uncertainty. Banks stepped up their exposure to Non-Banking Financial Companies, which is now seeing a rise in bad loans due to slowdown in real estate, thus causing a credit crunch in the automobile sector.

India’s economic growth is driven by domestic consumption. But with the steep decrease in consumer appetite, as reported by the sales of vehicles and even fast-moving consumer goods, there has been a gradual fall in productivity of oil, real estate, auto, and manufacturing sectors. This has stripped India of its status as the world’s fastest growing economy.

There are both short term and long term consequences of a recession. The immediate, visible effects are lower wages and large layoffs in the workforce, particularly employees in the lowest rung. This directly leads to an increase in homelessness, failure to repay debts and lower spending which starts affecting businesses and banks. The quality of goods and services decreases in response and so does the overall economic output of a nation. In the long term, recessions impact the availability of credit as investors will hesitate to put their money in the market. This curbs the growth and development of companies across sectors and adversely impacts entrepreneurial activity. The biggest cost, though, is the abandonment of education plans by children simply because they cannot afford it. This means that the vicious cycle of poverty continues for generations and inflicts long-lasting consequences on the economy.

So, should we be worried? Not completely, because markets correct themselves every once in a while and this self-correction happens at times when the world economy is undergoing a transformation as a result of radical policies in various countries. All is not lost. At least, not yet.

Abhishek

Daniel, Rishab, Anisha

11

Feature

12

Nikhil

Cover Story

Abhilasha, Umar, Sruthi, Dhwani

13

Feature

A significant problem Disney encountered when revamping classic tales by the Grimm brothers, Hans Anderson or others, was the child inappropriate gory and vivid descriptions in the books.

Few glaring examples that are present in Cinderella are: for one where Cinderella’s henpecked father doesn’t bat an eyelid on her mistreatment, or other where the stepsisters allegedly cut off their toes to fit their feet into the glass slippers or when the birds peck out their eyes at the end.

The Sleeping Beauty shares similar themes; the married prince Philip, passing through the jungle around the palace and raping sleeping Aurora.

Aurora eventually gets married to the prince after finding out she had birthed twins while asleep.

The Little Mermaid has two versions. Ariel kills Prince Eric when he has an affair to get back her voice and keeps the mistress as a concubine. In another, 14

she instead jumps into the sea to become sea foam.

With such explicit content, Disney had to make their movies enjoyable and child-proof. Thus began the famed Disney Princess series.

The most recent movies featured independent princesses like Merida and Moana, who didn’t require any rescuing services. Tiana and Elsa from The Princess and the Frog and Frozen are again along similar lines. Others like Mulan, Anna, or Pocahontas did well even without their significant others, hence contributing a lot to their stories. However, there are other movies with oddities. Belle in the Beauty and The Beast develops Stockholm Syndrome. Snow White performs all the housework in an unknown house of her own accord and then awaits the true love’s kiss. In Aladdin, Jasmine, a 16-year-old, was treated as a coveted object by Jafar,

the antagonist. Despite their harrowing age difference, she tries to seduce and distract him during one of the scenes. The Little Mermaid has prince Eric falling in love with Ariel only to ditch her because of her disability and finally regaining senses about the right girl. Another eyesore is the fact that she wanted to lose her individuality and way of life to become a human.

The live-action remakes had many things amended, replaced, or deleted altogether. Some examples are; Aladdin’s song ‘Prince Ali,’ which initially had the phrase ‘Sunday salaam,’ but was edited to ‘Friday salaam’. Other lyrics that talked about amputating, among other extremes, were made milder. The brothel in the song ‘One Jump Ahead’ instead depicted a woman taking classes for a group of girls.

The scenes where soldiers seemingly went missing were deleted. Jasmine was given the song ‘Speechless’ and made Sultan at the end of the movie to emphasize more on her character. Certain live-action remakes had the mothers of the princesses given backstories as to why they died. The European bubonic plague angle featured in The Beauty and the Beast to give it a historical context. Belle was stronger than all earlier versions, as expected of a character played by Emma Watson. In Cinderella, the prince and Cinderella encounter each other before the ball, which makes their relationship seem more meaningful. It’s funny how no one had Cinderella’s shoe size, though, or maybe that’s how pippitty-poppitty-poos work.

It is interesting to peruse the reasons as to why Disney’s princesses have behaved a certain way, and why they have been continuously evolving. Disney, like any other large American company, has always been dominated and run by white men. One can even go so far as to say the princesses of yore reflected that. However, they slowly began changing, obtaining independence, reflecting the diversity around. This is mainly due to the changing audience, perceptions, expectations, and demands.

Disney heard. They had to, for they were the ones who were to lose millions in revenue if they didn’t.

Despite, as creative a medium cinema is, eventually, wallets win; and it’s those who pay to watch that have the final say.

So much so, that they are now called Disney heroines, not princesses. A heroine needs no prince to save the day, and that’s the message Disney wishes to project these days, especially to young girls.

Finding a ‘Prince Charming’ is no longer as exciting as saving the world. Sure, young children are impressionable, but in today’s world of awareness, children are likely to see these as a means of entertainment rather than taking it to their heart till they grow up and find their princesses and princes. In today’s fragile age, anything and everything can offend someone. These factors prompt sudden abrupt changes in the entertainment sector. While some increase awareness and correct factual inconsistencies, others are meant for appeasement and inclusivity. Regardless of how they may be implemented or perceived, these changes are welcome Analysis of such changes reveals more than what nonetheless. meets the eye. While some improve factual accuracy and continuity, like explaining the origins of mothers, others skew the stories, taking them away from the originals. Pocahontas was mentored by John Smith, a father figure to the teenager, but Disney portrayed him as a romantic partner, stirring up a controversy. While Aladdin was only about Ala-ud-din learning his lessons, he was westernized, with Badr-ul-Badour becoming Jasmine albeit with better conditions than from women of those times. While she dressed comparatively more modestly in the live-action remake, hence making it more realistic. Though the stories were all excellent and had a message, the necessity to be inclusive and politically appropriate has prompted changes that make the original stories lose their charm.

Rasika

Venkat, Sunil. Shiwang, Vaishnavi

15

NOVELS VS MOVIES Penning down thoughts and ideas into prose and poetry has been present since time immemorial. The medium of text is celebrated for its intricacies, allowing the reader a newfound freedom to imagine their worlds. Another medium, albeit more recent, is the moving pictures or cinema as referred in the modern times. While reading involves one of the primary sense organs, the eyes, and the mind in tandem to decipher the texts, sometimes alien due to rare usage; cinema, on the other hand, is easier to interpret. Using sight and sound to understand actions portrayed doesn't employ the mind as much as reading. However, both have contributed a fair share to the development of society as a whole.

Without the advent of technology, it was the books and novels that captured details, narrated tales and spoke volumes, passing down information, among generations, classes, races, countries and diversity. As cinema grew, storytelling became shorter and to many,

18

more fun. The differences between the two media and the dependence on each other was what accumulated a massive audience, that drooled to escape into the fictional world.

Novels and movies serve the same purpose, at the end of the day: to help us escape the mundane reality that is our everyday experience, to transport us to worlds that are enticing, spellbinding and unlike anything we have ever seen before. However, this goal is achieved in fairly different ways and this is precisely what sets the media apart.

In the case of novels, the written medium allows for a more open-ended experience, with the writer painting a picture in the reader's mind using just the power of their vocabulary. Grandiose castles, looming spectres, a host of characters - a canvas that comes alive with colours through the author's effortless expertise.

Let’s Talk About What makes this medium particularly entertaining for those who prefer it is the fact that you - the reader - are in a sense, as important to the experience as the storyteller. Your interpretation, your imagination, your impressions - they all matter. The story you read, the images it evokes, they are all unique to you. This aspect makes the entire exercise deeply personal, which is what makes people enjoy reading in the first place.

Reading novels gives you freedom, and this isn't just the freedom to escape reality, it's the freedom to create your own.

On the other hand, movies provide you with a fuller, richer experience. Movies are a veritable sensory overload (what with so-called 5D experiences being advertised as well these days) that immerse you into the world they are set in. Through visually stunning panoramic shots establishing drama, moving cinematic music enforcing said drama and engaging dialogue being the icing on top of this dramatic cake, they help draw the audience into the story. Although not very open to creative interpretation like novels, they do use the tools that they possess to their advantage, and they do so exceedingly well.

source material itself leading to blatant plot holes to a work of art.

In the movie adaptation of Rick Riorden’s Percy Jackson series, the characters have great inaccuracies in their portrayal, along with changes to the plots of the books themselves. Annabeth becomes a brunette; she lacks her storm-grey intense eyes, and Percy’s eyes are blue instead of sea-green which is supposed to be an added factor to his son-of-Posiedon look.

The Harry Potter series is probably one of the better-made movie franchises, with plots and characters nearly resembling the ones in the book. The same can be said of the Pirates of The Carribean series, which has been immensely popular due to the excellent portrayal of characters, especially Captain Jack Sparrow played by Johnny Depp. The Narnia series too is noteworthy for its gripping storyline in both text and films.

Apart from series which manage to capture public attention, some stand-alone books have also been impactful enough to be made into films that move people deeply. The retelling of books like The Fault in

Novels and movies are like apples and oranges, they both are fruit, but taste completely different.

When a book gets made into a movie, as we all know, certain changes have to be made so as to appease the commercial nature of the movie. One of the first things that comes to mind when talking about books and book adaptations is The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Peter Jackson’s version of the LotR, a work of art on its own, is rife with deviations and not all of them make sense.

Starting with the exclusion of jolly ol’ Tom Bombadil, excluding Glorfindel, diminishing Faramir, the scouring of the shire, Making Gimli the butt of jokes and, well, a lot more. The movies also leave a lot of loose ends, like Saruman’s death, the famed “Why didn’t they take the eagles to Mordor?”. Most importantly, almost all the songs and poems were excluded.

It would only be fair to extend to the other trilogy, ‘The Hobbit’. The necessity of the explosion of a brisk and small book into three movies each almost 3 hours long and in essence the commercialisation of the story itself is questionable. Although the visual effects gave a whole new perspective of (and insight into) the literature, supersizing the story, at instances, alters its

Our Stars by John Green and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky into movie format has been greatly appreciated due to the fact that these novels have a unique tale to tell. These tales are fresh, vivid and moving, while dealing with the lives of common people and their everyday lives, stressing upon their uncommon conditions or inner thoughts.

On the side of fantasy and magic, the book, The Wizard of Oz, by Frank Baum, was also remade as a movie, one which brought delight to those who watched it. Even the movie Mean Girls is said to have been inspired by a book called Queen Bees and Wannabes.

All of them visual extravaganzas(on their own), not only originate from the books but also end up becoming the faces of the books.

When we think about how famous a book or a book series gets, we realise that there is a saturation point which very few books can cross. The exceptions are generally the books that are backed up with the support of a movie series, or a TV series. Take a few well-known examples that were discussed above, say, Harry Potter and GoT.

19

The Harry Potter books would probably be nothing if Bloomsberg had not published it. Several publishers had rejected it, and yet it is now one of the most celebrated book series in the world. The movies were definitely more famous than their paperback counterparts. But the sales for the books increased exponentially after the release of each movie.

The same goes for the latter example. The series is a famous example of adaptations of a young adult novel series such as A Song Of Ice And Fire.

Contrary to the previous example, ASOIAF is a novel series whose fame was not noticeably affected by its digital equivalent.

Another example, The Inheritance Cycle has an adaptation that is notorious for not just being unjust to the books but also being a boring movie in general. Some might argue that the movies probably diverted potential readers of the books. This being the case, the influence that an on-screen parallel has on a novel series is entirely

20

Komal

dependent on the movie as much as it does on the books.

Both novels and movies have been instrumental in shaping the thoughts and views of the society. Apart from being sources of entertainment, they have also helped to shed light on some important issues plaguing the society. Telling a story in an engaging manner is the crux of both media, and it’s just that the tools used by the storytellers are different. Novel-Movie duos like the Harry Potter have proven that, in the hands of efficient and competent artists, the same story can be delivered successfully in vastly different avenues of entertainment. But the translation from literature to cinema has not been so smooth in movies like Eragon and Ender’s Game showing that adaptations require skillful treatment to work effectively. With a wide array of advantages and disadvantages, these two influential media will continue to enthrall and stupefy audiences for generations to come. That, my friends, is something we can be confident about.

Swami, Sriram, Vishnu, Ashwin, Nila, Shiwang, Vaishnavi

COVER STORY

education A

lthough student life on college campuses in India is multi-faceted, the primary aspect that governs the student's experience is the education they receive. A student's day is for the most part spent in the classroom or in laboratories; irrespective of the vibrant student life outside these walls.

It is imperative to examine in-depth the various underlying issues in the educational system, which is perceived in an ever-evolving manner by the student populace. It is remarked quite often that India's education system is flawed, this cover story is an attempt to thoroughly address said flaws and make suggestions so as to remedy them. We cover the current issues being faced by students, the industry-academia disconnect that seems to be prevailing, the skill-gap as well as a study of curricula from other institutions to see what practices have succeeded and can be adopted to solve the problems unique to NIT Trichy. To understand these topics better, we’ll start by understanding what the curriculum is supposed to be based on.

Ideal Curriculum:

In this section, we address what an ideal curriculum should encompass, what its objectives are and to what extent they are fulfilled by the institute.

An ideal curriculum contains a set of ideals and objectives that should be followed when framing the curriculum for an institute. MHRD’s National Education Policy, a document defining standards of education, is utilized as the basis to set up the “ideal curriculum”. Its release was subject to much discourse amongst policy makers, teachers and trainers across the country. This policy aimed to explain and streamline the functioning of educational institutions.

The chapters dealing with the scope of Higher Education Institutes in the nation are of prime concern in this article. The curricula of these institutes follow the guiding principles laid down by the National Higher Education Qualifications Framework (NHEQF).

According to the Draft National Policy, this framework “outlines the learning outcomes associated with the degree/diploma/certification offered in various fields and disciplines.” Also, the alignment of NHEQF with the National Skills Qualification Framework ensures that the gap between academia and professional fields is bridged. This is essential in order to remain competent and highly valued in the constantly changing market demands.

The students’ suggestions column, covered later in this cover story, showcases requirements of the students such as industry-based teaching and projects for solving real-world problems etc.

“The basic premise on which all QFs are founded on are ‘learning outcomes’ and ‘competence development’, which essentially mean that skills possessed by the individual are more important than the mode of acquiring/learning.”

This means that there is more emphasis on meeting objectives, rather than the process that shall lead to it.

In a manner, it offers a flexible avenue for different institutions to meet the underlying goals, with a freedom to experiment.

The Strategic Plan of NIT Trichy does seem to be guided by these principles. The set goals offer an idea as to the aspirations of the students and their eventual employers. In this regard, the goal of breaking into the Top 100 QS rankings and continued dominance in the NIRF works well within meeting the industry demands, considering the top employers factor in these ranking frameworks as an important parameter.

However, the Qualifications Framework has its own caveats. When expected outcomes aren’t met, the initial flexibility of the system gives way to change in the existing curriculum. It becomes too prescriptive and such a change from an input-based curriculum to an output-based one should take into account the different sectors of the Indian economy rather than those of the global market.

21

22

Survey Analysis 1st year The survey consisted of a section specifically intended for first-years, to obtain a perspective on their experience thus far in college and on the opportunities provided to them that were unavailable to the preceding batches.

Awareness 91.4% of our first-year respondents are unaware of the existence of initiatives like the Wayne State University’s Single Term Exchange Programme (STEP) as well as fellowships. This clearly demonstrates the communication gap that exists between the students and the concerned authorities. Awareness regarding such schemes can be bolstered with the help of pre-existing devices such as the Orientation Programme. 15% of our respondents weren’t aware of any of the scholarships.

that many are unfortunately unaware of and are hence unable to utilize.

Further, first year respondents were also massively unaware of procedures to formally pursue internships under the professors of NIT-T. 81.7% did not know of this, implying that those with interest to pursue higher studies in their field would have been at a disadvantage since they would have not used this facility due to lack of awareness.

As a first-year, the best way to get exposure to the work being done in your field is by interacting with the people in our own institute's facilities, which is something

The Orientation Programme is meant to make the overall transition from school to college easier, such as ensuring that the elaborate procedures for obtaining official documents like grade cards, transcripts and bonafide forms are made aware of. The respondents rated the helpfulness of the Orientation Programme in these matters an average of 2.66 out of 5, which goes on to show that there’s certainly a room for improvement.

This lack of awareness among the first year students might be because of the fact that only 18.28% of them approach professors regarding any clarifications on their career path, etc., while a large chunk of the populace (75.27%) rely, though not solely, on the information passed on to them by their friends (and seniors).

On a scale of 1-5, how much did the orientation program help with being aware of essential academic procedures and documents? (like bonafide forms, transcripts etc.)

17.2% 1

24.7%

34.4%

22.6%

2

3

4

Transition from high school to first year of B.Tech is a huge step considering the focus on subjects, all the while not being given the impetus that they had previously received. This creates a void in the flow of knowledge and unwarranted pressure to keep up with their peers, even after doing well in the entrance exams. Students come from a diverse set of backgrounds, and are clustered together. Left to deal with the differences, there aren’t specific support systems to cater to their needs. To cope with this, bridge courses are offered for the first years to ensure a basic level of competence when it comes to English, programming and Mathematics. However, for a multitude of reasons (short duration, etc.), the average efficacy rating was a meagre 2.21 out of 5.

1.1% 5

If the courses were personalised to the pre-existing skill sets of the students, they can be made more effective by giving specialised attention to those who require more assistance in a particular subject.

The Management Information System (MIS), which the Orientation also aims to shed light on, was found to be relatively easy to access and make use of. The survey revealed that the process for course registration is at an average difficulty level of 2.4 on a scale of 5. That being said, many respondents of the survey expressed concerns over the MIS portal being confined to the intranet and being properly accessible by only one web browser.

23

Some students also complained of issues regarding the credits split-up being constantly updated for certain courses, wherein they were made to register for courses multiple times because of errors made in assigning credits while uploading the courses.

teacher-student ratio must increase. Furthermore, when asked about their preferred mode of lecture, 46.24% of the respondents wanted a Powerpoint-presentation based class, while 81.72% preferred interactive lecture components.

However, in terms of another feature of the MIS, the feedback portal, around 48.4% of first-years were unsure of how effective it was in gauging the quality of teaching faculty, with an additional 34.4% of them saying it was not at all effective. This suggests a gap in terms of transparency. Students do not seem to be aware of the mechanisms through which the faculty are made aware of their feedback and the follow-ups that might exist for the same, if any.

This preference for more interactive lectures as a departure from the traditional rote lecture shows that the learning process is now more two-way than ever: the professor merely facilitates learning, and the student is encouraged to explore concepts on his/her own. For example, team-based learning activities, mini-projects and seminars are also techniques which seem to be growing in popularity.

Moving on to the classroom environment itself, 65.6% of the first-year respondents believe that the

Further, 49.46% wanted lectures delivered by industry experts including portions relevant to what is being used there currently.

What is your preferred mode of learning?

46.24 PPTs 21.5 Student Presentations

49.46 Lectures from individual experts 20.43 Rote Lectures

In terms of the attendance criteria, conforming to the popular opinion, 46.24% of the respondents wanted a reduction in the attendance criteria to 50%. This reduction from the original 75% could be perceived as a result of a larger shift towards avenues like online courses (MOOCs), remote learning and self-paced learning.

Many institutes are already experimenting with this option; most notably, BITS Pilani (Hyderabad Campus)

81.72 Interactive Lectures

already has facilities for students to access video recordings of lectures from the comfort of their rooms.

Certain respondents stated, "The subjects taught in the first year must be changed. There are many irrelevant subjects which are not essential for that course." Either the course curriculum could be tweaked to prune the “non-essential” subjects or it could be made clear to the students as to why they are required to take that subject.

What would you prefer as an optimum attendance criteria(in terms of flexibility and course flow up?

6.5%

14.0%

48.4%

25%

As far as assessments are concerned, the most popular mode seemed to be the traditional framework: two cycle tests, one assignment and one end-semester examination (58.9%). However, a small but significant fraction also preferred more novel methods of assessment, such as quizzes, mid-semesters and end-semesters (17.9%), as well as those involving skills that are relevant from a holistic perspective - CTs, inclusive presentations and end-semesters (10.5%).

The gradual shift towards quizzes, presentations

24

30.1% 50%

1.1% 75%

85%

90%

and mini-projects as non-conventional but effective modes of assessment is certainly promising. However, it is possible that the first years, owing to their limited exposure to the above flexibility in assessments, are simply more comfortable with the traditional pattern despite its demerits.

On the results side of things, 36.3% of the first-years rate the transparency of the evaluation of assessments as 3 out of 5. It isn't clear if the students are aware of any pre-existing procedures to approach faculty for clarification regarding their grades and marks obtained.

2nd year It is a common notion that the second year is when a student actually ‘enters’ the department. This translates into new opportunities and challenges opening up to the students. For example, the summer of the second year is traditionally the first time a student undertakes an internship.

Awareness On that note, 76% of the second years are aware of summer fellowship programmes such as the Summer Research Fellowship Programme (SRFP). This is not surprising as organizations such as the student council and department committees conduct awareness sessions and there is a general word-of-mouth publicity that passes on information from seniors and friends to the students.

However, a system, such as a website, facilitating awareness is also required.

The effect of the lack of publicity of such a system is also seen in the case of MOOCs. Only 23.2% of the surveyees are aware of the opportunity to take MOOCs as electives, which is mentioned in the academic section of the NIT-T website.

Additionally, only 2% of the respondents are aware of the existence of a Performance Assessment Committee (PAC), which deals with the evaluation of assessment. With complaints on the rise about the grading system not being transparent, being unaware of this committee’s existence and its guidelines serves as a disadvantage in pleading the students’ case.

24% of the surveyees aren’t aware of any of these facilities/opportunities. This needs to be mitigated by initiatives taken to spread the word. A website or an app would be the best fix to fill the communication gap between the administration and the students.

What aspects of the elective are you aware of?

59.6%

Availability of courses

45.5%

Timing

47.5%

Pre-requisites

64.6%

Requirement to complete a minimum number of program electives

13.1%

I still have doubts after the briefing session

38.4%

Did not attend the session

27.3%

The option to take up online courses as electives

It was observed that those who are aware of MOOC as an option in place of open electives are generally aware of everything else.

How can the transition from First Year Courses to Core Courses be improved?

70.7%

More interactive faculty

50.5%

Provision of more learning materials

71.7%

Activities(such as industrial visits)

59.6%

Lab courses with industrial developments

From this infographic, we can see that most students feel that relevance and a more hands-on approach would be greatly helpful for academics. There is also a definite gap between the practical courses on offer and the actual conditions of the industry

25

A massive lack of awareness regarding internship opportunities within NIT-T has been observed. 81% of the students are unaware of the procedure of pursuing a formal internship under the professors of NIT-T. A major reason is the lack of dialogue. Another reason might be the exposure that the off-campus internships provide. However, an on-campus internship is also advantageous due to cost-saving factors such as almost zero travel expenses and accommodation fees. The list of the projects that are undertaken by professors along with their contact details is available in https://www.pragyan.org/pearls/. It has a list of internships as well. This enables the students to contact the professors regarding the project they are interested in.

How aware are you of the re-evaluation procedure?

26.3%

Not aware of anything related to the procedure

22.2%

Not sure when to approach

30.3%

Know whom to approach but not the exact procedure

21.2%

No doubts regarding the procedure

3rd year Third years across all departments comprise almost 25% of the surveyees. It goes without saying that third year is the most pivotal year in college as this is when courses are most hectic, more opportunities are offered and important decisions regarding one’s future are made.

Two thirds of survey fillers feel that electives are aligned with their career choices. Current third years have to finish at least ten program electives to be divided among three compulsory program electives and seven open electives. If one pursues five of these seven open electives from a branch, one each semester, then they count as a minor.

The college also gives an option to choose one of these electives as an online course, and the survey portrayed that only 76% of students who filled the survey are aware of this option. Online courses are seen as a viable option for 34% of the survey-takers who were dissatisfied with the choice of their electives and marked their satisfaction as 2 or less on a scale of 5.

Due to reasons such as dissatisfaction with the course or clash in timings, a student tries to swap/deregister a course. However, this proves to be a major hassle as indicated by 80% of survey fillers marking their smoothness of experience as 3 or less on a scale of 5.

26

A large number of students feel that they did not get the result they deserved in their assessments. This is where the revaluation process comes to the rescue. However, the lack of awareness of the revaluation procedure becomes disadvantageous to students, as they can’t state claims about their results properly. Similarly, awareness about changes in the curriculum stands at 53%, while online journals accessible via the institute are known to only 57% of the survey takers.

NIT-T has a sprawling club culture, which involves a diaspora of students. Despite the additional workload in their lives due to teams and fraternities, 72% of the students have marked 3 and above on a scale of 5 about how clubs have a positive impact on their career path, allowing them to explore their interests and develop their soft skills.

4th year

How many basic programming/aptitude courses do you think should be offered? (with regard to intern/placements)

37.3%

44.1% More than 2

81.4% of fourth years said that they would like a minimum of 2 basic programming/aptitude courses to be offered.

This is especially significant, as the question has been framed in the context of interns and placements, which most fourth years have been through.

Being the first batch to have the option of undertaking the Business and Entrepreneurship for Engineers elective, the fourth years have a generally moderate to positive outlook on the introduction and execution of such new courses.

With 83% of people giving a 3 or above out of 5, it can be seen that such courses are generally favourable among the fourth-year student population and that more such courses can be implemented in the future.

With around 47% of fourth years rating it either 4 or 5, and 30.5% giving it a 3, it shows that most of them feel that the lack of transparency in grade evaluation affected them in a significant manner in their grades. Therefore, better transparency and standardization of evaluation and assignment of grades would remove a lot of ambiguity surrounding the topic.

With fourth years having tried their hand at the extra-curricular activities available on campus, most report a favourable experience. When asked to rate the contribution of their experience in clubs and teams to their career paths 54.2% of fourth years have given it a 4 or a 5 out of 5. This shows that they feel a lot of learning required to succeed in one’s career happens outside the classroom, and therefore, students’ participation in such activities should be encouraged and fostered.

Issues When asked to rate how much the courses that they have had in the past 3 years have been relevant to their future,

15.3% 2

1

6.3% 0

one can see that it is a mixed bag of results, with the median falling at 5 (on a scale of 10). There is clearly a range of different experiences on hand here, which shows that a rethinking of which courses the curriculum should include is needed so that a majority can feel that the courses they undertook will help them in their future careers.

The range of the scores obtained could also be explained by the fact that a significant portion of the student population did not get placed in the field that they are majoring in.

Courses could be tailored so that such transitions could become smooth in the future.

This point is made more explicit in the next question, where a majority (69%) of students have said that the courses they took in other departments helped them achieve the upskilling required in the industry. Better interdepartmental cooperation and more open electives being offered could allow students to pursue the courses of their choice as well as make them into well-rounded inter-disciplinary engineers, for which the demand is said to be steadily increasing.

73% of students said that the absence of a consulting culture, which is common in the IITs affected their placement choices. This means if they had the option, they would perhaps have headed down a very different career path. This is another point of contention that could be redressed by the Training and Placement department.

This question sums up the college experience of the fourth year students. When asked how helpful their college experience has been in making them industry ready, the median of the students have rated it a 3, with more people rating it a 1 or a 2 than a 4 or 5. Therefore, steps need to be taken to ensure that the students receive an education that is more industry-relevant than it currently is, and the relevant syllabus be formed by analyzing the prevailing industry, research, and hiring trends.

27

Awareness and issues among all years This section addresses the awareness of facilitiesand issues common to all years (students). When asked about problems faced by students, 70% of our respondents have mentioned the lack of interactive labs and lectures and the communication barriers between the faculty and the students. Their primary demand is to utilize the feedback system effectively. 40% of them have claimed for a course revamp as the current syllabus is considerably outdated. A solid 40% of the respondents have expressed their concerns for better student awareness programs. One of the significant instances is the difficulty in comprehending and transparency in the credit system and GPA calculation. Another critical issue was the lack of awareness of research and internship programmes in and out of campus.

85.4% of them believe in the benefit of interactive learning and 48.3% deem that PPTs would do the work. An average of 25.4% and 20.9% of respondents prefer lecture delivery and student presentations respectively.

When asked about what aspects of the course plan are being followed, 75.4% of respondents have answered assessments and evaluation. Even though 24.6% deem feedback is taken after every semester as prescribed, it is felt that there have been no actions taken based on the feedback.

How difďŹ cult do you ďŹ nd academic procedures such as MIS course registration to be?

Issues:

30.3%

When asked about the teacher-student ratio, 74% of our respondents have expressed the need to increase the student-teacher ratio, whereas 26% of them find the current number to be adequate. This could be because of the inadequacy in the number of professors available for certain minors and electives.

When we asked what changes they would like to see in the classroom curriculum 80.3% of the surveyees have answered improving the quality and relevance of the lab courses offered by different departments. Whereas 63.1% of the respondents think integrated learning with the help of technical devices would help improve the learning experience. 48.3% of our surveyees opine that technology-aided attendance marking would improve the classroom experience. When it comes to electives and minors, 54.9% of the respondents feel that there is a need to allow minor electives without prerequisites. The other 40.6% of the surveyees have answered that having a minimum fixed number of students per class would be beneficial. This could be in relation to the ratio of students and teachers described earlier in the survey.

26.6%

Management

44.9%

29.1% CSE

Humanities

A majority of the surveyees have opted for CSE due to the abundance of career opportunities in the field. This rush towards opting for one department has resulted in the tendency of less takers in other departments. Some of the respondents could not take a course beacause of less registrations.

28

13.1% 1

24.6% 2

18.3% 3

4

13.7% 5

30.3% of our respondents find the academic procedures such as MIS course registration to be slightly difficult.13.7% of the respondents find the process to be very difficult. Many students have complained of the website crashing frequently and other minor inconveniences which cost them in terms of minors and electives.

What is your preferred assessment split?

Most of the professors here in NIT Trichy stick to traditional assessment strategies. A wide variety of technologies available today allows a variety of assessment options that goes beyond the traditional methods. When asked what assessment options our respondents would prefer, a majority of 43.1% are content with the present CTs + assignments + endsems format. While 23.4% said they would rather prefer quizzes + midsems + endsems and the other 18% have rooted for CTs + inclusive presentations + endsems.

Awareness : Do you think the course feedback provided via the MIS portal is effective?

62.3% of our respondents find the course feedback provided via the MIS portal to be ineffective while the other 26.9% of them are not sure. This could be because of the lack of action being taken based on the feedback. Only 10.9% of the respondents find the feedback useful. One of the repetitive suggestions is faculty review post-feedback.

What would you prefer as an optimum attendance criteria (in terms of flexibility and course follow-up)?

Regarding the optimum attendance criteria in terms of both flexibility and course follow-up, 56.3% of the respondents want it to be 50%. While 22.6% have answered in support of the current 75%, 18% of the respondents actually want the attendance criteria to be reduced to as low as 25%. Amidst this, there are still some students who want it to be as high as 85% and 90%.

Based on your experience, how transparent do you find the evaluation procedure of assessments?

Incorporating transparency practices enables better reproducibility of results. When asked to rate the transparency of the evaluation procedure of assessments from 1 to 5, where 1 being not transparent at all and 5 being very transparent, a majority of 31.4% of the respondents have awarded the transparency of the system to be mediocre.

Whom do you approach in case of career clarifications?

When asked whom they approach for career clarifications and academic updates, a majority of the respondents have mentioned seniors and friends as their go-to option while some others trust their professors for the queries. The remaining students prefer arbitrary sources such as YouTubers and websites.

How do you get important updates regarding your academics/career?

12% Professors

63.7%

13.7% Websites

Admin Authorities

89.1% Seniors/Friends

Opinions from Alumni The survey has also been open for opinions from alumni. 45 alumni have responded to the survey.

Are you aware of any changes taking place in the curriculum?

Over 32 (71.1%) are unaware of the current changes taking place in the curriculum, suggesting that the institute should actively try to put out the curriculum changes on platforms such as LinkedIn etc.

71.1%

If your answer was "Yes" to the previous question, how far do you think these changes have aided in the rankings?

12.5%

1

25%

2

37.5%

3

25%

4

5

Do you feel that 6-month internship opportunities should be allowed to be pursued by the institute?

93.3%

93.3% (42 Alumni) have responded with a “Yes” when asked whether a 6-month internship should be allowed to be pursued by the Institute. A 6-month internship in the 7th semester gives the students a meaningful experience in terms of their future career.

What courses do you think the institution must mandate (if they have not already) to make the students industry ready?

Most of the respondents feel that there is a general lack of coding/software related courses in the curriculum.

Concepts, softwares and programming languages such as MATLAB, Python, JAVA, MS Excel, CAD and Artificial Intelligence are popular suggestions. Students can avail the opportunity to learn MATLAB, Python, etc., through the workshops conducted by interdisciplinary departments in NIT-T

29

30

Komal, Harish Raj, Preetham